At an event I attended last year, Harmony Murphy, a Senior Executive from Google (Google Advertising Head), concluded her presentation with the following statement: “You are not competing with AI, You are competing with companies using AI.”
Basically, this sentence is saying we need to make a plan for ourselves during this change, forget about worrying about Artificial Intelligence, and concentrate on finding our place in this evolving situation.
Right now, AI is really helping us in different ways. It saves time by doing mundane tasks for us. Also, it helps us understand things faster, especially in areas where we find it hard to concentrate. Plus, it takes our ideas and turns them into neat plans, and it’s open to feedback.
It’s an assistant who is emotionally strong, without health or mental issues, and doesn’t require motivation through perks or benefits. Let’s be honest, nobody would say no to that. I remember the dreams I had as a child. I used to wish for a clone to do my homework or take exams for me while I played football. With tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini available today, this dream has largely come true. Maybe it didn’t help me catch up on my homework, but it provided about 40% assistance in preparing this article.
Most people see AI changes as the start of something really bad, like in dystopian movies. But remember, people didn’t stop being important after machines came in during the industrial revolution. Things were chaotic for a while, but eventually, people found their place. Some got good at using machines, while others enjoyed the benefits they brought, making life better. This took a long time to settle. What’s different now is how fast things are changing. People who can keep up are speeding it up even more, making it tough for those who can’t. In the end, things will probably get better for people, but it’s going to be hard for many organic intelligences to keep up.
Even though people without technical skills might feel worried about the near future, this revolution has an important similarity to the last one: User Interface! For a long time, software and automation were connected to confusing text on black screens or complicated algorithms. But nowadays, it’s simpler with basic functions like drag and drop. You can automate or customize things with kindergarten-level drag and drop. With assistants like Chat-GPT and Microsoft Copilot, it’s even simpler – you just tell them what you want. Just like with machines, software needs people to understand inputs and outputs for now. It’s crucial for societies to improve literacy about AI usage by making good use of this process.
Considering all of this, it’s better for people to pay attention to how companies or authorities are using this technology instead of trying to beat AI itself. Nowadays, AI is all about helping people do their jobs better and faster by automating tasks. So, there’s no better time than now to get used to new AI stuff.